Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
|
Loading... Seeing Off the Johns (edition 2015)by Rene S Perez II (Author)
Work InformationSeeing Off the Johns by Rene S Perez II
   None No current Talk conversations about this book.  sunshinealma | Sep 10, 2016 |   Rene S. Perez II Seeing Off the Johns Cinco Puntos Press Paperback, 978-1-941026-12-0 (also available in hardcover and as an e-book), 256 pgs., $11.95 November 3, 2015 Tiny, fictional Greenton, set in South Texas, “a one-stoplight town built on cattle and railroads and killed by bypasses and super-ranches,” doesn’t have much going for it. What Greenton does have are “two crown princes,” John Robison and John Mejias, high school baseball stars signed to play college ball for the University of Texas at Austin. The Johns graduated from high school twenty-four hours ago and now they’re dead, killed in a rollover accident on their way to Austin, shortly after a ceremonious departure complete with police escort to the city limits and banners strung across Main Street. Greenton is stunned, especially beautiful Araceli Monsevais, “Goddess of Greenton,” long-time girlfriend of Mejia. Concepcion “Chon” Gonzales has been in love with Araceli for as long as he can remember. Will the town let Araceli move on? Seeing Off the Johns, a tough and touching coming of age novel by Rene S. Perez II, is an intuitive and rather sophisticated exploration of grief and loss and coping mechanisms, both individually and collectively, told in the language of small-town teenagers, through the lens of Araceli and Chon. We follow the progress, and lack thereof, made by Chon and Araceli and the entire town of Greenton over the next school year as they all attempt to assimilate the worst tragedy the town has ever experienced. The parents of both Johns regret condoning “the hero-worship of two young men who were not yet done being boys.” The baseball coach fears that “the rest of his career would be defined in contrast to the four years he had with the Johns.” Teenagers sneak into the cemetery for a “late night fix of what-might-have-been.” Araceli struggles with survivor’s guilt and Chon worries that approaching Araceli in the aftermath of this tragedy makes him a “predator … an opportunist.” Perez is multitalented. He writes funny when “Henry couldn’t write a paragraph or even conjugate most irregular verbs in Spanish but in decrying a puto, he was Neruda.” He writes teenage angst when Chon longs for “the doom-jazz mood of a rainy night”. And he can turn a phrase, riffing on Greenton’s high school, “a WPA-era building erected to look like a fallout shelter and a factory for the crop-cut future GIs who would come up in the last pure, pre-rock ’n’ roll of American youth.” Seeing Off the Johns is briskly and evenly paced. The deceptively simple plot allows the young people to take center stage and everyone who grew up in a small Texas town will recognize these personalities. They are allowed to stretch, to contract, and to mature, and it’s a pleasure to be along for the ride as Chon finds out how brave his heart really is. Originally published by Lone Star Literary Life. (  ) TexasBookLover | Jan 18, 2016 | no reviews | add a review
People in the small town of Greenton mark their lives from that day in late summer when crowds lined the streets to see off high school athletic stars John Robison and John Mijias. That was the day the Johns, as they were known by adoring fans in Greenton, left for state college, and never made it there--or back. The Johns had spent their high school years putting that nowhere losing town on the map with playoff runs in football and state championship bids in baseball. For Concepcion "Chon"Gonzales, the days that the Johns headed out and didn't return was the first day of his new life. He had waited all his growing up years for a shot at Araceli when one of the Johns, John Mejia, stole her away. Now, while Greenton mourns, while the Johns' families become actors in a spectacle of grief, while Johns memorabilia is sold in every gas station and convenience store in town, while Araceli has to endure a senior year in the watchful gaze of the whole town, Chon Gonzales makes his slow methodical move on the only girl he's ever loved, hoping maybe that she won't notice what he wants. Rene S. Perez II was born in Kingsville, Texas, and raised in Corpus Christi. He received a BA from the University of Texas and an MFA from Texas State University. He is the winner of the Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Foundation Award and lives in Austin. His first book,Along These Highways, was released in 2012. No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers  
 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.67)
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia in English
2
When the boys died in a car crash just a few hours later, Greenton was devastated. The only one indifferent to the calamity was 17-year-old Concepcion Gonzales, known as Chon. For four years he had hidden his dislike for the John who had stolen Araceli, the love of his life. With that John forever out of the picture, Chon’s days now turned to thoughts of how to methodically woo back the only woman he’d ever loved.
Set against a backdrop of close knit town prejudices and fears, Perez tells the story of a hard working young man struggling to find his own voice amid a life filled with love, heartache, friendship and sorrow. Though the writing is at times introspective and rambling, Chon’s hopes and dreams are real to anyone who has ever loved and lost.
Recommended for ages 16 and older.
Book review link: https://shouldireaditornot.wordpress.com/2016/09/10/seeing-off-the-johns-rene-s-... (